2 1 6 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



distillers' carts in London are chiefly composed ; and no one can behold them without being struck by 

 their noble appearance. Their strength is prodigious ; but, from their great weight, their action is 

 .slow, and at hard, continued work they would be beaten by well-built, muscular horses of less size. 

 Most of these horses exceed seventeen hands in height. Both the Suffolk and the Lincolnshire breeds 

 have been latterly much crossed by the Flanders breed, to the improvement of both, certainly of the 

 latter. In this cross, the size and bulk of the original Lincolnshire are still retained, but the fore hand, 

 *s Mr. Youatt observes, has been raised, the logs flattened and deepened, and much, consequently, 

 gained in activity. The slow, heavy black, with his two miles and a half an hour, has been changed 

 into a lighter but still exceedingly powerful horse, which will step four miles in the same time with 

 perfect ease, and has considerably more endurance. 



Wales and the Shetland Isles have always been celebrated for miniature horses, of great beauty, 

 spirit, strength, and hardiness. The Welsh pony is often a model ; a small head, high withers, a deep 

 yet round body, short joints, flat legs, and small, round hoofs characterise him ; his ears are small, 

 his eye is full and animated, and his actions are free and vigorous. The Shetland pony is still less in 

 size than the Welsh, and is often very handsome ; but the shoulders are usually low and thick, the 

 limbs, however, are well knit, and the strength of the animal, in proportion to its size, is astonishing. 

 Mr. Youatt states that one of these little creatures, only nine hands high, carried a man of twelve 

 stone forty miles in one day. 



" A friend of ours," says a valuable writer, " was, not long ago, presented with one of these little 

 animals. He was several miles from home, and puzzled how to convey his newly-acquired property. 

 The Shetlander was scarcely more than seven hands high, and as docile as he was beautiful. ' Can we 

 not carry him in our chaise V said his friend. The strange experiment was tried. The Sheltie was 

 placed in the bottom of the gig, and covered up as well as could be managed with the apron ; a few 

 bits of bread kept him quiet, and thus he was safely conveyed away, and exhibited the curious spectacle 

 of a horse riding in a gig." 



Mr. Bell was passing, rather late in the evening, through one of the streets in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of London, when he saw two men walking briskly along, with a beautiful 

 little pony trotting by their side, without either bridle or halter. Presently one of the men, who 

 seemed on the best possible terms with his little steed, passed his arm round its body, and lifting it 

 with ease from the ground, earned it for some distance ; then, setting it down, he threw one leg over 

 its back, and half rode, half walked, with his feet touching the ground on either side. After a time 

 he again carried the horse a short distance, and at length took it up the steps of a shop and disappeared 

 with it at the door. 



Ponies, of different degrees of value, range the New Forest, Exmoor, and the Highlands ot 

 Scotland. In Scotland there was once a breed of small, elegant horses, similar to those of Iceland and 

 Sweden, and which were known by the name of galloways, the best of which sometimes reached the 

 height of fourteen hands and a half. "One of this description," says Dr. Anderson, " I possessed, 

 it having been bought for my use when a boy. In point of elegance and shape, it was a perfect picture, 

 and in disposition was gentle and compliant. It moved almost with a wish, and never tired. I rode 

 this little creature for twenty-five years, and twice in that time I rode a hundred and fifty miles at a 

 stretch without stopping, except to bait, and that for not more than an hour at a time. It came in 

 at the last stage with as much ease and alacrity as it travelled at first. I could have undertaken to 

 have performed on this beast, when it was in its prime, sixty miles a day for a twelvemonth, without 

 any extraordinary exertion." 



Many of the galloways latterly in use have been brought from the New Forest or from Wales ; 

 but they are so diminished in number that they are scarcely sufficient to supply even the neighbouring 

 districts, and there is a great deterioration in form and value. Still, the Welsh ponies are beautiful 

 little creatures, they -can live on any faro, and possess remarkable endurance. On Dartmoor there is a 

 very hardy and sure-footed race of ponies, well fitted for the dreary wilds and rough roads of that 



tainous country. One of a smaller kind, an Kxinoor pony, carried his owner, who rode fourteen 

 stone, from Bristol to South .Molton, eighty-six miles, beating the coah which went the same road. 



Here, however, we must pause, for to enter into all the breeds and crosses of the different stocks 

 into whirh the Knglish horse seems primarily resolvable, is impossible. The horses irhthis country are 

 as numerous and various as the judgment and fancy of the breeder can make them. 



